“But”…No matter how many times I hear this word, I know from my experiences in life, there’s a contrast or contradiction between the first sentence and the next one following the “but”. In other words, when I use this word, or someone I’m speaking with uses it, the whole scenario seems to change from what is an expected outcome, to a different, sometimes opposite consequence; sometimes good, sometimes bad.
Here’s an example. Several years ago I was driving home one night in a nasty freezing rain/ice storm. I made the 35-mile journey without incident until I got a block from home. I thought for sure I was finally going to make it home without running off the road. But…the final 200 feet to my home’s driveway was on a downhill sloping road covered with freezing rain. As I inched my car slowly down the hill and tried to turn into the driveway, the car started sliding sideways. There was nothing else I could do except brace for the impact of sliding into the ditch and accept the consequences. But, by the grace of God, the car stopped sliding just inches before going into the ditch. Fortunately, I made it out of the car and was able to walk the final 50 feet into my home that night. The potentially major incident turned into no incident at all. The next day when the freezing rain had melted, I saw how the ground and grass just off the pavement stopped the car from sliding into the ditch. Whew…a scenario that went from bad to good in a matter of seconds. It’s challenging to tell a bad to good story, or vice versa, without using that great conjunction from our English language; BUT.
And when life on earth interacts with God’s will, life becomes even more interesting from the human perspective. Throughout the Bible there are many passages describing how it seemed all was lost, no hope of rescue or fulfillment of a desire, until the words “but God” are used in the story. For mankind, all was lost, but God intervened to make lemonade out of the lemons in our life’s journeys.
For example, in Genesis we are familiar with the account of Joseph’s early years. The teenage boy was bound hand and foot, and lowered into a dry cistern by his hateful, jealous brothers. They planned to leave him in that countryside pit to die a long, slow, anguish-filled death. No one else except his brothers knew he was there. His brothers hated him and could not tolerate another minute of him in their midst.
But God played His hand with a different plan for Joseph’s life. He didn’t want Joseph to die in that cistern. He had plans for that young lad. God wanted him to live to fulfill His purpose for Joseph’s life and eventually an entire nation. God intervened in the potential death scenario by sending a small caravan of businessmen to journey near that same, dry cistern where the brothers had laid him. Seeing the caravan of traders, Joseph’s brothers decided to sell him for the going price of a slave. Perhaps the brothers wanted to reap some tangible reward from their years of torment in dealing with the “anointed one” in their family, as well as not be saddled with the guilt of Joseph’s eventual death if they left him in the pit. God changed the scenario and the direction for this young man’s life. What was God up to in completely changing the expected outcome of Joseph’s life? We all know the outcome.
How has God intervened in your life? Have you ever had a “But God” moment? Here’s one in my life I’d like to share. Many years ago when I was a senior in high school, I had applied for a college scholarship through the U.S. Air Force. The Vietnam War was still raging. I wanted so badly to go to college, graduate, and become a commissioned officer to serve my country as an Air Force pilot. Just before my high school graduation day I received a letter notifying me that I was an “alternate” for a full scholarship. I was not the “chosen one”, but a “maybe”.
Throughout the summer after graduation I worked in a hot, filthy sheet metal factory throughout the summer for $1.50 per hour, coming home each night with the hope of finding the letter that would change my life and fulfill my dreams. But each night was the same, no letter.
But God had a different plan for me. It was August, Friday the 13th, and my last day of work before I headed off in two weeks to basic training in the Air Force. I was done with waiting on an outcome that may never happen. I made a decision to move on with my life. I came home with my final $50 paycheck in hand, and saw the official looking envelope addressed to me on the table. It was just two weeks before all of my high school friends would be starting their separate paths of entering college. Would this letter say I would be joining them or was it the final notification confirming my worst fears that I’d never go to college?
But God intervened and completely changed the path of my life on what most believe to typically be an unlucky day. With some hesitation, I opened the envelope to read that I had in deed received a full 4-year college scholarship and was approved for entry into the school’s Air Force ROTC program. There was no longer any doubt about the direction God had for me. What was God up to? Why would God do such a thing to completely change my life? What did He want me to do? At least for the next four years, I knew what I’d be doing. 26 years later, I retired from active duty in the Air Force.
What about God intervening to rescue someone from an expected death experience? There are several such instances throughout the New Testament, but one that comes close to mind is that of Paul when he was traveling by ship that encountered a ferocious storm. The situation was completely hopeless. All of the crew expected to die, but Paul told the ship’s captain to do what he said and they would all be saved. The ship’s captain and crew complied and all were saved from certain death. That too was a “But God” moment for Paul and everyone on the ship. God had great plans for Paul and his ministry. He wasn’t about to let the great Christian evangelist perish in a storm at sea. As they say, the rest is history.
How about you? Has God ever intervened in your life to save you, or a loved one, from certain death? Here’s a “But God” rescue moment in my life I’d like to share.
As a young college student, on a trip to Florida, I was enjoying the first swim of my life in the ocean. The power of the larger than usual waves produced by a storm farther out at sea was impressive. However, being a rookie at the beach, I didn’t know about the power of under toe or the dangers of rip currents. In the water about 50 yards off the beach, I enjoyed the wave action, but after battling several large, breaking waves over me, it felt like the bottom fell out of the ocean and the rip current had me in its grasp. As typical, fighting the current to return to shore was a futile effort that only moved me farther out to sea. It wasn’t long before physical exhaustion, panic, and then desperation turned the light into darkness as I sank below the surface.
But God had a different outcome planned for this college boy. God sent one of his angels to push me back through the waves and on to the sandy beach. It was then that the previous darkness was turned into light of the late afternoon sun now shining in my eyes. I could not explain how I got back to shore. To this day that is the only explanation I have for being saved. There were no witnesses to validate the event I had experienced that day. Nevertheless, I continue to be extremely grateful to God for His intervention.
There is one Bible passage in particular that I have relied on several times in my life and I’m sure many of you have as well, to try and understand God’s intentions for our lives. Proverbs 3: 5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will direct your paths.”
Ever since mankind has occupied the earth, this world has experienced sin, evil and wickedness. Despite making many different sin offerings to God in the Old Testament accounts, there was nothing any human could do to completely satisfy God in order to obtain His forgiveness for their sins. But Almighty God, the all-powerful, all-loving, all-merciful God that He is, reversed the course of all mankind from eternal damnation to eternal life. Here’s the most awesome “But God” intervention this world has ever experienced.
But God so loved the world (and all that He created), that He gave His one and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Jesus Christ, the Son of God came to earth to willfully obey God’s command to sacrifice His life on behalf of all mankind, to pay the ultimate, perfect blood offering to God so undeserved forgiveness could be bestowed by God to all mankind and break the bond of sin and eternal damnation forevermore. That is the best “But God” moment that we can all be grateful for in our lives for all eternity. All praise be given to God!!
Live, Learn, and Grow in Jesus.
Blessings,
Jerry
